I represented a client recently in the Morris County Superior Court in Morristown, New Jersey on a PTI Termination hearing. She was admitted into the PTI program based on a credit card fraud charge where she allegedly defrauded her employer of approximatley $40,000.00. She had no prior record and was given PTI for a three-year term conditioned on her paying full restitution and paying a large amount of the restitution up front upon her admission into the PTI program. Unfortunately, the check that she provided to probation to pay restitution at the time of her PTI admission bounced. As a result, she was scheduled for a PTI termination hearing, she was facing a third degree charge and potential state prison time. The assistant prosecutor was also considering charging her with third degree check fraud for bouncing a check on the probation department. If he did this, she would then be facing two felony charges (the original credit card fraud charge and the new check fraud charge) and would surely be facing prison time.

Lucky for my client, I was able to convince the prosecutor to allow her to complete PTI if she paid the restitution in full. I was also able to convince him not to file new charges for check fraud. I also got the judge and the prosecutor to give her an additional six (6) months to pay the restitution because her husband was retiring and he would be able to get the money owed from his retirement account. She provided a certified bank check for the restitution amount that was outstanding and she successfully completed the PTI program. She has no record.